


Ordelian Stimulus Response

by slotumn



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Conditioning, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Hugs, Light Angst, Post-Golden Deer Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Romance, Touch-Starved, claude is kind of (very) touch starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24781471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slotumn/pseuds/slotumn
Summary: Right as he turned around, she grabbed the yellow fabric over his shoulder, tugged,"Hm? Do you need something--"and wrapped her arms around his torso before either of them could think.A.K.A. Pull Cape For Hugs
Relationships: Lysithea von Ordelia/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 3
Kudos: 48
Collections: FE3H Kink Meme, Slotumn Portfolio





	Ordelian Stimulus Response

**Author's Note:**

> Done for the [kink meme](https://3houseskinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/1608.html?style=site&thread=1719368). I decided to go the extreme fluff route with this because I've written too many dark fics lately lol

At some point, Claude began walking her back to her dorm at nights ("Just in case there are any ghosts out to get you," he said with a shit-eating grin), and despite giving him some obligatory sass as response, she secretly enjoyed standing so close to him in the quiet of the dark.

"Sleep tight, okay?" he said, as she opened the door.

A part of her hoped that he would, perhaps, give her a goodnight kiss or something romantic and gentlemanly like that. But Claude being Claude, of course, didn't do anything in the few seconds of awkward silence that followed.

Right as he turned around, she grabbed the yellow fabric over his shoulder, tugged,

"Hm? Do you need something--"

and wrapped her arms around his torso before either of them could think.

"..."

Once she let go, she avoided eye contact, muttered,

"Good night,"

and closed the door.

\---

She did it again the next night, then the night after that, and after that, always closing the door before he had a chance to respond.

Surely someone like him must have figured out that she would do that every time, but he always turned away and let her tug on his cape anyway.

"Good n--"

Around the fifth or sixth time, he hugged back and held her there. 

It couldn't have been more than a minute, but to her it lasted hours, face buried in the pine-scented uniform coat while he wrapped himself around her. Clung onto her like she was someone he hadn't seen in years.

Her words failed her once he let go.

"Good night," he said, voice and eyes softer than usual.

\---

Afterwards, he began hugging her first when she tugged on the cape. 

A couple months later, she did it without much thought at the library, trying to get his attention to ask him something-- but his arms wrapped around her before she could say anything. 

"What was that for...?" she asked, once he let go and stepped back.

Claude looked genuinely shocked for a second, even though he was the one who did it. 

He cleared his throat and turned his face neutral once more. "Force of habit, I suppose."

(A few days later, she did it at the library again, this time on purpose, to see if that was really true.)

(It was.)

\---  
\---

Five years later, they became late-night regulars at the library again, and he began walking her back to her room again.

It felt like putting on a pair of old favorite shoes again-- so familiar that it felt alien, in the light of how much things had changed since then. 

They paused once she opened the door. 

Neither moved.

"Good night," he finally said, and right as he began turning away, it hit her that he still wore a cape.

As soon as she tugged on it, he snapped right back around to hold her with the same desperation from that night years ago.

Except now, she was tall enough to bury her face into the crook of his neck as he did.

\---

A slip-up happened again, this time at the training grounds. 

Everyone got together to hit some training dummies while Professor coached them, for old time's sakes. The arrows were always a pain to clean up after, but being able to talk and joke while they did it made it significantly less grueling.

She pulled out an arrow, lodged right in the head of the training dummy. Claude's, she could tell, because all the archers in the class had different fletchings to distinguish them. He also happened to be right next to her, busy bantering with Hilda, so she reached out to notify him--

"Your arrow--"

\--and he turned around to hug her, in front of everyone.

With a cough, he swiftly adjusted to make it look like it was just a comradely arm-around-the-shoulder motion when heads began turning towards them. It seemed to have worked, as most everyone got back to cleaning up and chatting, likely dismissing it as him teasing her once again.

(But unfortunately, Hilda still got a nice clear view, and the two of them never got to live that one down.)

\---

It was their last night at Garreg Mach.

She, alongside everyone else, was shocked to hear that he would rescind his title and go home, said home being none other than Almyra. (Except this was Claude, and he always had something up his sleeve, so not really.)

There wasn't much to do in the library, so she opted to take an evening stroll around the monastery instead.

It truly was over now, she thought, looking at the dimming sky.

All they had to do was to get used to peace-- the old favorite shoes she thought she may not live to put on again, on some nights.

That was supposed to be a good thing. She should have been glad, both for herself and everyone else.

And yet--

"What are you doing out here past your bedtime, young lady~?"

\--she turned around to see exactly who she expected.

"It's barely sunset, Claude," she sighed. "And you know, that joke is getting rather old by now."

"Good to hear that little routine managed to last five-- no, six years," he grinned. "Mind if I join you for a walk?"

They meandered around, side by side, all across the monastery, talking about incidents and shenanigans that took place in those places-- both during the academy and the war.

Some of it was conversations they had before, but that was okay, she decided, because this was the last time she would see him, and what better way to conclude it than to recount all the good old times?

"It's actually getting late now."

When the stars were out, he walked her back to her room. Both of them stood still, unsure of the right punctuation to end the night on.

She wanted to hug him, of course-- hug him and kiss him and tell him all about how she felt, but even though she herself had nothing to lose by doing all that, to him, it would only be a distraction.

She still didn't want to be the one to say good-bye first.

Claude didn't turn away, however, instead quietly asking, "Hey, aren't you...aren't you going to do that thing again?"

"Do what?" she asked back, fully knowing what he meant.

"You know, uh, with the cape."

Shaky breath, then a step forward.

Her arms skipped the cape and squeezed right around him, as tight as she could, clinging on desperately like he always did.

"Let me stay," he whispered, carefully placing his hands on her waist.

The door shut behind both of them.

\---  
\---

"Papa~ hug~"

"Me, too! Nadia wants a hug, too!"

Lysithea watched as her children tugged on the back of her husband's shirt.

"Alright, alright, come here, you little hug fiends," he chuckled, turning around and opening his arms to let the twins jump into them before lifting both up. "Oof, you two are getting big!"

She walked over, landed kisses on two small foreheads, and took Judah into her arms before landing another kiss on Khalid's cheek.

"I see that they figured out the cape-pull method."

"Yeah, except I don't wear those anymore, so I guess they're going to stretch out my clothes for hugs now."

She tilted her head to look at the back of his shirt. "I'd say it's a fair exchange."

He smiled and kissed her back.

"Definitely."

**Author's Note:**

> [LysiClaude week twitter](https://twitter.com/LysiClaudeWeek?s=20)   
>    
>  [My twitter](https://twitter.com/slotumn?s=09)   
>    
> 


End file.
